Water-soluble detergent products in the form of a single-use portion pack for treating textiles are known. Such a portion pack is used only once for treating textiles, usually in a textile washing machine. The detergent product comprises a film pouch having one or more pouch chambers. There may be accommodated in each pouch chamber a detergent preparation which contains for example active washing substances for treating textiles, in particular for washing textiles. The use of multiple pouch chambers opens up the possibility of separately holding different detergent preparations which under some circumstances chemically react with one another or are not storage-stable for other reasons when mixed together. In addition, the use of multiple different detergent preparations within one wash cycle permits the release of multiple, functionally different washing substances and/or additive substances, such as for example bleaches, fabric softeners or fragrances. If multiple pouch chambers are provided, the individual detergent preparations within the pouch chambers may have an identical or different consistency and are preferably of liquid consistency, for example liquid, gel-like or pasty, or of solid consistency, for example in powder, granule, free-flowing or solid form.
Once the detergent products in question have been added to water, the film dissolves and releases the detergent preparation. The film pouch may be formed of a plurality of water-soluble films, the water-soluble film preferably being PVA film (polyvinyl alcohol film). The films that can be used usually consist of polyvinyl alcohol copolymers with suitable additives such as plasticizers, surfactants, bittering agents or salts. The film pouch may be manufactured from a water-soluble base film and a water-soluble cover film, which form the boundary walls of at least one pouch chamber. The base film may for example be deep-drawn in a plastically deforming manner in order to form at least one pouch chamber. The base film and the cover film are then sealed to one another or connected to one another in one or more sealing or connecting sections. The sealing sections or sealing seams are then located in a so-called sealing plane or connecting plane of the two films.
Detergent products having multiple pouch chambers are known for example from DE 10 2014 102 567 A1. The detergent product described in the aforementioned document may comprise a plurality of chambers which may be arranged in a manner aligned above each other, that is to say positioned one above the other. To produce pouch chambers which are arranged one above the other, more than two film layers are sealed to one another. Also described are multi-chamber products in which the chambers are arranged alongside one another, that is to say positioned one next to the other. Chambers may also be arranged in such a way that a first chamber is located next to a second chamber, but the first chamber at least partially surrounds the second chamber but does not completely enclose the second chamber. Alternatively, one chamber may also be completely enclosed by another chamber. The chambers may be of different sizes and may each contain a laundry washing, textile care or dishwashing composition, including pretreatment or soaking compositions and other washing compositions. The composition may also be a detergent composition or a machine dishwashing composition. The detergent composition may be used during the main wash cycle or it may be used as a pretreatment or soaking composition.
A detergent product comprising a water-soluble pouch which has a plurality of pouch chambers arranged next to one another is known for example from EP 2 617 659 B 1. Two separate chambers are each filled with a cleaning agent, wherein the film pouch is manufactured from a water-soluble base film and a water-soluble cover film which are sealingly connected to one another in a sealing plane. The pouch chambers are separated from one another by sealing sections located in the sealing plane. The base film is deep-drawn in a plastically deforming manner in order to form the pouch chambers. In the sealing plane, a first pouch chamber has a first footprint and a second pouch chamber has a second footprint. The respective footprint is delimited by the contour line of the respective pouch chamber in the sealing plane. The film pouch has a third footprint, wherein the first footprint of the first pouch chamber has a concave section on its side facing toward the second pouch chamber, and wherein the second footprint of the second pouch chamber has a convex section on its side facing toward the first pouch chamber. The convex section of the second pouch chamber extends into the concave section of the first pouch chamber. The second footprint of the second pouch chamber has at least one concave section to the side of its convex section, said concave section being adjacent to at least one convex section of the first footprint. This geometry is intended to achieve a certain intrinsic shape stability of the film pouch, so that the pouch chambers do not fold in and out relative to one another in the manner of a hinge when the film pouch is manually held. This is because any folding in and out of the pouch chambers will often be interpreted by users of the detergent products in question to be an indication of supposedly poor product quality.
Particularly in the case of detergent products which have a plurality of pouch chambers separated from one another by sealing sections, but also in the case of other detergent products of the type under discussion, more particularly in the case of detergent products having a large footprint of the film pouch, two disadvantageous effects can be observed upon use in textile washing machines. In washing machines designed as front loaders, the detergent product may be transported below the washing machine door during a wash cycle due to the circulating movement of the laundry and the flow conditions of the washing liquid in the washing drum, into the region of a rubber sleeve of the washing machine which is provided as a door seal, and may float onto the rubber sleeve or be entrained or conveyed there by the laundry. The detergent product may become deposited there and stick there, since the water-soluble film exhibits a certain degree of tackiness upon contact with water, or may become jammed and remain in this region for a relatively long period of time or even for the remaining duration of the wash cycle. The washing liquid then flows less intensively around the film pouch, and there is no mechanical contact with the laundry and the washing drum. Both of these have an adverse effect on the dissolution behavior of the film pouch in the washing machine, with the film pouch dissolving more slowly and less completely than intended. As a consequence, usually residues of the detergent product, in particular film residues, can be found on the door seal at the end of a cycle of the washing machine. This is perceived as a nuisance by users of such products and as an indication of supposedly poor product quality. Cleaning the door seal of adhering product residues leads to undesired additional effort when washing laundry. In addition, when removing the laundry from the washing drum, it may happen that the product residues are stripped from the door seal and then remain in the clean laundry.
In washing machines designed as front loaders or as top loaders, detergent products having multiple pouch chambers in particular often tend predominantly to float on the surface of the washing liquid in the washing drum. This also leads to reduced mechanical contact of the film pouch with the laundry and with the washing drum, which is associated with a poorer dissolution behavior of the film pouch. The disadvantages of the film pouch floating on the washing liquid include, in particular, a delayed release of the detergent preparation and an incomplete dissolution of the film pouch at the end of a cycle in the washing machine.